70/62

45:00 with 4 x :40 hills in the middle. A bit lackluster, but I feel good now it's done. Next: make the summer's definitive final work to-do list - I'm heading to Cayman early Friday and need to make sure I have all the necessary work materials with me....

Bench!

That was a good workout! (Hahaha, also had allergy shots beforehand, new set of bottles @ stronger strength, that may also be helping the triceps feel extra PUMPED....)

Bench: 4 x 6 @ 65% (85) (0-3-0)

(2) circuit x 3: (a) single-arm floor press x 12 @ 27.5; (b) band lat pulldown x 20; (c) band face pulls x 20

(3) circuit x 3: (a) shrugs x 20 @ 37.5; (b) lateral raise x 10 @ 5 (6 seconds descending); (c) front raise x 10 @ 5 (ditto)

(4) 100 kettlebell skull-crusher (8kg)

I need to figure out if I can do workouts on my own the next two weeks in Cayman or if I should hire a trainer for accountability. I'm torn - should really try and do it on my own, but I know it is more likely to happen as it should if I get someone locked in!

69/62

Multitasking! 30 easy with some bits of walking (forgot watch with chrono function, also right achilles very tender/tight). Then picked up my BorrowDirect books at the library and got an egg sandwich from the Asian deli en route home. Feeling accomplished....

Sat-Sun-Mon update

I was very busy over the weekend - more human contact over a couple days than I usually have in a month! (Or possibly even a whole summer!) Anyway Saturday was legitimately a day off, left very early for day out at Fire Island with powerlifters (it was great, only I sat twisted around on the train to talk to folks and my hip became quite sore, it's still twanging me more than usual today). Sunday I did run before heading downtown for trip to NJ for family BBQ, ditto this morning - that waasy day 67, run 60 and day 68, run 61 (40 as 2:1 both times).

Rode bike downtown to lift (it was hard leaving the house, I am in need of some serious downtime!), that was the right call, it's simpler and more time-efficient. We are continuing on the slow build:

deadlift work set as 4 x 5 @ 65% (156) with three-second hold at the knee on the way up
ring rows: 4 x 10 with 5-second hold at the top
incline rows (double-arm): 4 x 10 @ 27.5 with 3-second hold at the top

1hr lower body
10mi bike

Day 65, run 59

I'm almost a week behind now - I missed yesterday evening's run, in retrospect it may have been unrealistic (it's not just the lower body, it's the time on bike and general dehydration/underfueling - I had a late afternoon doctor's appointment where I had to wait quite a long time, and by the time I got home around six the ONLY thing I was ready for was a sandwich and a book in bed). Thought I might just be able to drag myself out around 8pm, but given that I wanted to do my long one this morning, I didn't want to jeopardize that. Anyway, the weather currently is a GIFT, so nice - low 70s, low humidity - and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Back is surprisingly NORMAL, that's great (I think the regular lifting is very beneficial). Hip and hamstring both acting up a bit, not horribly but I am going to stick with the run-walk for immediate future....

80 minutes as 2:1 jog-walk

Squats!

Ah, that was heaven - as I rode my bike home, I thought probably the only other thing that can lay claim to being such enjoyable morning is the flush of mild discovery in a rare book room! The weather is clement, summer is almost over (that is a good thing) and I set up a session with Josh as I have my annual physical later (overscheduled primary care doc, you take the slot they give you!) and didn't want to miss Thursday's workout again.

I actually haven't squatted since January, due to one thing another (Rome, mega-run training, injury, PT, training cycle), and it was surprisingly good. We just did goblet squats this week and will have a session next Thursday where I put the bar on my back again, I have a bit of a mental block on that. Not sure this is exactly what we did, but along these lines

4 x 10 kettlebell squat (with box), 18lb, 3 seconds tempo + 2 seconds hold at the bottom
3 x 10 Romanian DL, 8lb (?) kettlebell, slow down and pause at the bottom
hamstring curls with ball: 4 x 6 (3 seconds tempo on roll out, keeping hips high)
a knee band thing
possibly one other thing?

Super-enjoyable - no better way to spend discretionary income as far as I am concerned...

1hr lower body
10mi relaxing bike

Day 63, run 58

David recommended a day off due to ongoing minor aches and pains, but really there are too many reasons in favor of running and few against! Just did 30 easy as 2:1 jog-walk. It is 70F at noon! In NYC in August!

DL!

My favorite day of the lifting week obvs. Very nice. I like my teammates!

deadlift set: 4 x 4 @ 62.5% (151 then 155 based on switching to a different bar) with a three-second hold as the bar reaches the knee on its way up

ring rows: 4 x 10 with 3-second hold at the top

circuit: 3 x (15 single-arm rows, 25 shrugs) - used overly heavy weights for first couple sets, my hands wouldn't stay closed after that! (I think it was a set at 37.5, a set at 42.5, back to 37.5) and first 52 then 42 then 37 for the shrugs....

c. 1hr lower body + a bit of stretching

Day 62, run 57

Rainy and in the 60s! This is highly Davidsonian running weather. Only needed to do 20 easy, but I enjoyed it....

Day 61, run 56

Just 30 as 2:1. Need to get my act together and get downtown for dinner with a friend. Had a really nice breakfast with my brother at G.'s - precious but tiring, it is a strain on my system to get to Tribeca on Sunday morning by 9:15!

Day 60, run 55

It was a boon that the temperature stayed low rather later into the morning than the forecast predicted - it's really, really hard for me to get up and out in a timely manner! So it was still low 70s and overcast/windy when I started around 11:30 - only got a little hotter while I was out - glad it was only 80 minutes though. Injury report: hip only a little sore, back actually FINE, but that little spot that as I picture it is where sciatic nerve comes out of the ischial tuberosity is PEEPING at me constantly....

80 minutes as 2:1 jog-walk

Day 59, run 54

Quite enjoyable, actually. Storm brought temps down, it's already on its way back up to hot and hazy (rather unpleasant) but at low 70s rather than low 80s, still preferable to last night. And I felt less overwhelmed/despairing. That said, I seem to have a lot of minor aches and pains - some kind of sciatica hamstring thing made it hard for me to find a comfortable position to sleep in last night, and I possibly shouldn't even think of trying to do a double while that stuff is ongoing. Which is a pity, b/c today and tomorrow are prime days for it - but health before obsessive counting!

30 minutes as 2:1 jog-walk

Day 58, run 53

Tough day due to wrestling with IDENTITY THEFT logistics and implications - no actual harm done, no money stolen (impersonator ran out of the bank when teller was suspicious?!?), but I had to close accounts and open new ones and do all the other stuff etc. Mid-afternoon doctor's appointment downtown, it's super-hot, and by the time I got home from that and did a few more bank phone calls, all I could really do was HUDDLE (I finished #6 in this crime series but will have to wait for #7 to arrive in the mail unfortunately). Knew that a run would make me feel better - it's sort of a human chemical miracle, even a very slow one works - so I dragged myself out towards dusk, pretty warm stuff but now I am showered and watered and fed I do feel significantly more human. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day for me!

30 easy as 2:1 jog-walk

Day 57, run 52

Ah, like Tristram Shandy, I am falling ever more behind in my task - I did NOT run last night (self-assessment 8pm told me it was a preposterous idea), but my one just now was pretty nice, despite heat and haze. Ugh, I hate summer, I am so ready for it to be over!

42:00 as 2:1

Bench

Ugh, haven't done my run yet, it does not seem at all appealing but I am feeling rather low anyway and missing a run will really not help! (Did have a legit reason for not doing it earlier, had 3pm pulmonary checkup and the doc wants to know peak flow without same-day albuterol use, and I shouldn't run without albuterol esp. as I was up a lot during the night with a seeming minor sinus infection and I am down one asthma medication anyway, having run out at end of June and not managed to refill it before going to Cayman - a new prescription is now ready for me to pick up at the pharmacy...)

Upper body workout was nice but it does not give the same flow of happy exercise chemicals you get from running or lower body! Anyway, 1hr:

(1) bench: 3 x 6 @ 67.5% (80 - should have had a heavier weight I suspect), with six seconds descending/eccentric

(2) single-arm row, 3 x 12 @ 32.5 (will move back up to 37.5 next time, hand strength was limiter last time but didn't seem a problem this time round)

(3) DB floor press, 3 x 15 @ 27.5 (did an initial set with the 17.5 which I think I used last week as there are no 22s, but that w as clearly too light, this I think was just right)

(4) 3 x 25 band face pull

(5) 100 band triceps pulldown